GreenwichTownship officials and a fired police officer must revisit the terms of a lawsuit settlement before a superior court judge will rule what information from the case can be admitted into a new trial.

Judge Amy O'Connor ruled today that another hearing will be held to determine whether a settlement agreement to a 2009 whistle-blower suit precludes Chris Tasiopoulos, an ex-township officer, from discussing harassment allegations made against Chief Richard Guzzo.

Tasiopoulos was granted $25,000 in a settlement of the 2009 suit against Guzzo and the township, and filed a new wrongful termination suit against the township in 2011.

Greenwich Township officials believe that the settlement bars Tasiopoulos from repeating information from the initial suit, and to do otherwise would essentially re-litigate a resolved case. Tasiopoulos' attorney argues that incidents included in the suit are crucial to explaining what led up to his client being fired.

The language of the settlement is a quagmire of legal technicalities, specifically what is meant by "claims" being "released" under the settlement. The township's attorney, Frank Taddeo, argued in a hearing last week that the claims referred to allegations made in the suit, meaning that they are no longer admissible in court.

Peter Paris, attorney for Tasiopoulos, reiterated today that his client never would have agreed to the settlement if he thought it would silence his case in such a crucial way.

"How can he explain himself without his history?" Paris said.

O'Connor said it was clear that both sides agreed to the settlement with different understandings of its implications, and that a hearing was needed to "air out" the disagreement before moving on to trial. A date was not set during Friday's hearing.